But What If They Didn't? Alternate AnimeMangaManhwa Tragic Endings
by Dark Wings 73
Summary: Each chapter is a one-shot off of a different anime, manga, or manhwa in which a "happy ending" is avoided as one small detail is changed. The majority of the chapters start out in the middle of an arc/scene and deviate from there. Genres vary from tragedy to comedy to horror. This collection includes one-shots off Fairy Tail, Black Butler, Death Note, Kuroko no Basket, and more.
1. Chapter 1: Blue Exorcist

"Yukio!" Rin cried out, stretching out an unwavering hand towards his possessed brother. "Yukio! Wake up, damn it! Open your eyes and grab my hand! You're stronger than this, Yukio, so hurry up!"

Inside of himself, Yukio was struggling, similarly reaching towards his brother's outstretched hand, fighting tooth and nail to regain control of his body, the body that he'd sworn to use to protect Rin from the very forces that were consuming him.

Six inches between their fingers...Then three, then two...

They clasped hands, and Yukio's eyes became his own. For just an instant, the two brothers stared at each other, tired but strong, the invisible thread tying them together wound of an unbreakable light that even Satan couldn't touch.

But then it all went wrong. The gun went off. Rin's head shot backwards as he gasped and slowly sank to his knees while all Yukio could do was stare with horrified eyes. Then, "Rin? Rin?" He knelt beside Rin, who was crumpled on the ground, his hands weakly trying to staunch the blood gushing from his abdomen. "Rin? Stop joking around. You can regenerate, you know, so...So stop messing around, Rin. You're the big brother, so why won't you heal already?"

Yukio's head whipped to the side, searching frantically. "Someone! Someone, help me! Rin's...he's not healing! He's bleeding out!"

Mephisto casually sauntered up next to him. "Of _course_ he's not healing. Even though you relieved him of his sacrifice, he still choked up quite a bit of blood. He hasn't even conjured up the lost amount, so how can you expect him to heal? Besides," he continued amiably, gesturing at the gate with a small umbrella.

"Look."

Yukio's head tilted up to see the gate disintegrating from the outside in. "What? What's happening?"

"Since the majority of the blood came from Rin, he has the largest percentage of a tie to the Gehenna Gate, which means he has the most influence over it. What you're observing right now are fluctuations matching Rin's life force."

"So you mean..."

"I mean to say that if Rin were to die, then the gate would close."

Yukio's eyes frantically searched Mephisto's for some kind of joke, already knowing that he would find none. "No! That's not an option! We have to save him! We have to-"

"Look around you, boy," Mephisto whispered, and Yukio turned his head to see Angel and a few other high-ranking exorcists chanting. "You think that they'll allow the demon child to live?"

"I'm half demon too," Yukio argued, his eyes flicking back and forth from his dying brother to Angel, who was raising his sword. "Why don't they just kill both of us?"

"Nonsense. You're Shiro's sensible son, still useful to the organization. But Rin? He's a reckless danger, a pure risk for the Knights, and they don't take lightly to risks. They eliminate them."

"Don't talk about my older brother like that! Rin's not just some variable in their experiment! He's the best older brother in the world," Yukio cried out, turning away from Mephisto. Angel was only a few feet away, his sword held high, ready to come down-

"No!" Yukio shielded Rin's body from the blade, waiting for the bite of the metal to dig into his side, but no pain came. When he looked, Angel's blade was poised three inches above his side.

"Move!" he commanded. "Move in the name of the Knights of the True Cross! Move if you have any exorcist blood in you!"

"No!" Yukio yelled, his face streaming with tears for the first time in years, since he'd become an exorcist to save his brother from the pain of a world he couldn't yet see. "No! I promised to protect him! I won't let you kill-"

"Shh," Rin whispered, his face pale and his eyes narrowed, as though it pained him too much to keep them open. Yukio looked at him in terror, wanting to tell him to be quiet and save his energy, that he, the younger brother, would save him, that it would be okay, but Rin just grinned. "This is my chance to show them all that demons aren't so bad, right? Maybe it's worth it."

"It's not worth it to me!" Yukio protested, by now completely ignoring Angel.

"Dad would think it's worth it," Rin insisted, still grinning that idiotic grin.

"Dad would think you're stupid for throwing your life away!"

"Maybe. But I'm not throwing it away. It's more like recycling." Rin coughed, leaving his lips red with blood. Yukio shifted so he was kneeling on the ground and gently lifted Rin's face onto his lap. "Just...just tell..." He paused to cough; this time, it was worse. The Gehenna Gate shuddered violently along with him. "Tell my friends...that they were the best...friends I ever had. And..."

His head turned to the side as he lost the strength to hold himself up. "You were...the best little brother...anyone could ask for."

"Hey! Don't do this, Rin!" Yukio screamed, wanting to shake Rin but too afraid that his condition would worsen. _Not that it can get much worse._ "It's my fault. If I hadn't let myself become possessed, I wouldn't have shot you..."

"It's not...your fault."

"Yes it is, Rin! I pulled the trigger!"

Rin just smiled up at the crying Yukio, reaching up a trembling arm to ruffle his hair with his dying affections. "Good luck, little bro."

Then his arm fell and his eyes closed, although his smile stayed for a second before fading away slowly, like that was the last thing that Rin wanted Yukio to remember.


	2. Chapter 2: Fairy Tail

_On the Boat_  
The Etherion blast was coming any minute now. While a boat was carrying Lucy and the others away, Simon, Natsu, and Erza were still inside the R-system tower, all ready to take down Jellal once and for all. But as the boat floated over gentle waves, none of the passengers could deny the guilt and worry that consumed them.

"Damn it! We need to go back and save Erza!" Grey shouted in a sudden burst, leaping to his feet and nearly overturned the boat.

"What about Natsu?" Lucy added, trying to hide her worry. "He's your friend, too!"

Grey crossed his arms and looked to the side with his chin up. "Friends? With that guy? Who'd want to be friend with a fire-breathing idiot like him?" The tension was palpable in the small boat, emphasized when Grey sat down and sighed, uncrossing his arms and putting them on either side of him, as though he couldn't hold himself up otherwise. "I hate to say this, but I'm worried. I don't know if they can handle it."

"Natsu will beat him," Happy piped up despite tears streaming from his face. "I'm sure of it!"

 _In the Tower_  
Even though she was holding a blade against him, in her eyes was the hint of desperate salvation. Despite her knowledge of what evil he'd committed, when she looked at him, she saw an overlay of him as a boy, the one she'd looked up to and admired. So while the hand holding the blade neither wavered nor trembled, neither did it carry enough resolve to make the tough decision and truly stop Jellal. Both of them recognized this, but neither made a move.

"Stop this, Jellal!" Erza cried out, her blade leveled at his throat. "You and I both know that the tower is incomplete without a vast quantity of magic energy, so why are you going to such lengths? Just give up now."

"Don't you see?" Jellal asked, laughing into the cold night air. "With the Tower of Heaven, I can revive Zeref and bring true freedom to the new world. A regret to have to sacrifice you, indeed, but it will all be worth it once Zeref has returned."

"Why can't you see that you don't need Zeref? You have friends that will stand beside you, so stop thinking that you're weak and powerless without him! Come back to us!" she said suddenly, her emotion showing itself. Her grip on the sword loosened for just a second, but that was all it took. Jellal knocked it aside easily, without Erza even moving to combat him, and then they were both kneeling, facing each other.

"Erza...there is nothing you can do. I was possessed by Zeref in a moment of weakness and led the Tower to its completion. I blame myself for that, and I can't hold it against you if you do the same. But right now..." Jellal sighed, looking at the ground to his right. "There is nothing we can do. The Etherion blast will rid us of our past and this Tower in a single moment, and we can't stop it. We simply must accept it."

The sword in her other hand clattered to the ground as she reached out and hugged Jellal. Their embrace was illuminated a second later by the harsh white glow of the light of the Etherion blast, but while Erza trembled slightly, she made no move to avoid it. The noise of the blast grew louder and louder, until it felt like it would consume the two of them, take their very existences and just make them vanish...

But then the sound of wind equalled the roar of the inferno, and Erza moved to observe what was happening, only instead of witnessing her own destruction, she saw Natsu, his mouth open, and he was...

"Natsu!" she yelled, trying to stand to her feet but being pushed down by the ferocious wind. "You can't! You'll die!"

Natsu, who was swallowing the Etherion as though it were mere flames, consumed the last of it and looked over at her with a sad smile as he began to glow. "It's worth it. Erza, I know that I always challenged you as a kid-"

"You still challenge me, you idiot!" she yelled with tears streaming from her left eye.

"-but it was only because I admired how strong you were, how strong you _are_. You're the strongest person I've ever met."

"That's...that's not true," she murmured, her eyes shaking. "I'm...weak. I just hide behind my armor."

"And you're one of my best friends," Natsu continued, causing Erza to look up. By this point, light was emerging from his pores and bathing the Tower in light, this time warm light. "Without you, Fairy Tail would have been no fun. So thanks for making the guild a great place to be."

"Natsu!"

He smiled brightly, his eyes closed, and added, "Take care of Happy for me. Give him lots of fish, all the time." Erza could only watch him grinning; she couldn't move...couldn't try to stop him...because by the time she began to walk, then run, towards him, it was already too late.

"Wait! Natsu! You can't-"

But his time was up. Nobody's body, not even Natsu's, could handle that many Ethernano particles. He exploded, releasing a stream of light into the sky, and once the light had dissipated, some of it floated back down, looking like some kind of fairy dust.

"Natsu!" Erza screamed into the twinkling sky, but he was gone, at least in physical form. When she looked into the sky, she could almost see him grinning back at her like always. "Natsu! You get back here, right now, you..." But she couldn't continue.

The tears leaked from both of her eyes, and she fell to the ground, unable to find the strength to hold herself up after so much magical energy had been drained in her battles and from the presence of the Etherion blast.

"Natsu..." she whispered as her vision faded.

 _On the Boat_  
"They did it! They reversed the Etherion's blast!" Lucy cried out, shouting joyfully while Happy flew in little circles around her head.

"Aye!"

While everyone else celebrated, Grey was quiet. _But...how did they do it?_ he wondered. _Not even Erza could have reflect that, especially not after taking down that assassin and Jellal. Just what happened up there?_ "Ice make: Telescope!" he called, then focused in on the top of the tower. He immediately spotted Erza's red hair, then Jellal's blue hair. He even located Simon a few stories down. "But where's Natsu?" he asked to himself, as quietly as possible.

"Whatcha looking for?" Lucy asked, popping up next to him and nearing tipping the boat (for the second time).

"Just making sure they're safe," he said. _It's not totally a lie. I just...get this uneasy feeling._

"Oh? Did you see them?"

"I saw Erza. She's safe. Same with Jellal and Simon," he said, avoiding the topic of Natsu because _where the hell was he?_

"What about Natsu?" Lucy immediately asked, smiling hopefully.

"I'm sure he's there. I just can't see him because the crystals are blocking my line of sight."

"Oh, right," Lucy agreed, although Grey sensed her fear. "That's probably it."

Just then, the fairy dust-like mini crystals passed over them, and Happy cried out. "No!"

"What is it, Happy?" Grey asked in a get-to-business tone.

Happy was sobbing. "No! Not Natsu!"

"What do you mean, Happy?" Lucy asked, but when Happy just continued sobbing, she changed approaches. "Spit it out, you stupid cat! What about Natsu?"

"I can feel it," Happy choked out. "I can feel his life essence in the Ethernano crystal particles."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lucy asked uncomprehendingly, looking between Happy and Grey.

"It means..." Grey began, looking regretfully towards the Tower, "that Natsu's gone."


	3. Chapter 3: Kotoura-san

The attacker swung the baton down, and at the last second Muruto dove in front of Yuriko, shielding her. With a soft grunt, he fell to the side, leaving Yuriko trembling, tears spilling down her cheeks as she failed to suppress her fear. _I always thought that I'd be ready for this,_ she thought to herself, _but I'm so scared right now that I could die. Muruto even got hurt because of me, but I can't even move...It's all my fault..._

The cloaked person was ready to take another swing with the baton, but a voice stopped the figure short.

"Hey! Don't hurt Yuriko!" Kotoura called out, a few tears falling from her eyes and her legs shaking but her eyes defiant. She hurriedly wiped away the tears and shook her head. "It's not your fault, Yuriko," she said gently, reading her mind and smiling softly at her. "It's goign to be all right. Muruto will be fine, too. You'll see." She turned her focus back to the attacker, and Yuriko was left only to wonder at how brave Kotoura looked, hiding her fear, and how ashamed she felt because she had forced Kotoura into this situation. "Get away from Yuriko!"

The attacker smirked and stepped over the quivering Yuriko, baton held low in right hand, and approached Kotoura, who was frantically thinking, _Manabe! Come save us! Please!_

Hardening her eyes and strengthening her stance, Kotoura shook her head slightly. _I can't rely on Manabe to save us. I'll have to try myself to protect my friends. Maybe I can read his mind and get something..._ So she tried to get a read on his mind, but then her eyes widened, because now she knew who the attacker was... "No, it can't be you!" she cried out, suddenly lost in indecision, but that was when the attacker's baton came down and cracked Kotoura behind the neck.

As she started to fall, the attacker moved to catch her, letting her slump over one arm. "You just had to mess with me, didn't you?" Tsukino's evil self asked as she dragged Kotoura's limp body away.

And all Yuriko could do...

was sit...

and...

watch.

When Kotoura woke up, she was tied to a chair in a dark room without windows. "Where am I?" she asked, suddenly panicking because she felt so alone. She hadn't felt like that so much lately because of her friends, but she suddenly recalled all of the empty days before this year, when everyone had hated her...

Without meaning to, a tear slid down her cheek, but she couldn't brush this one away because her hands were tied behind her.

Out of nowhere, Tsukino appeared before her. "Yes, cry, Kotoura-san." She paused. "You know, I hate girls like you, but I hate you the most. I hate the girls with friends they can talk to and laugh with, but you don't deserve friends. You're a _monster_. Monsters like you shouldn't get friends, but you do and I didn't? How is that fair?" She lashed out with the baton, hitting Kotoura on the left side of her face, and she cried out in pain.

"It's not fair that a monster gets to be happy and I get to suffer," she continued ranting, hitting Kotoura over and over again. "It's not fair!" Finally, she dropped the baton.  
Kotoura felt a ray of hope. _Maybe I can convince her to stop..._ "Please, Tsukino-san. You don't have to do this. I'll be your friend, I promise. Okay?" _I just have to stall until my friends can find me,_ she thought, her legs shaking even though she tried to still them.

Tsukino tilted her head and smirked. "Why would want to be friends with a monster like you?" she asked, and Kotoura flinched. Tsukino drew closer, still smiling creepily. "I know what you're doing, but it's pointless. They'll never find this place. Not even Manabe will be able to find you."

Kotoura drew in a quick breath, feeling too scared to fake it anymore. She started crying, her eyes pleading with Tsukino. "Please, Tsukino-san. Please, just let me go."

Tsukino stopped, and Kotoura also paused in hope, but then she whispered, "You're never leaving, Kotoura. I'm keeping you here forever."

Kotoura cried harder, closing her eyes, and as her lids were shut, Tsukino pulled out a sharp knife used to carve up a fish. She pulled back the hand with the knife, and just as Kotoura opened her eyes, plunged the blade into her neck.

Kotoura screamed, blood pouring from her throat and tears falling from her eyes, but Tsukino wasn't done. She stabbed Kotoura over and over again, not minding the blood that had splattered over her. "She's a monster," she muttered excitedly to herself, "And all monsters need to die."

Eventually, she dropped the bloody knife a few feet from the baton and pulled on the cloak she'd been wearing earlier to hide the sight of her blood-covered self. Without a backward glance, she left Kotoura's still-bleeding corpse tied to the chair and went to her apartment to set an alibi.

She didn't feel a shred of grief or remorse over the innocent girl she had just killed. After all, she's a monster, and all monsters need to die.

Manabe arrived at the abandoned warehouse an hour later, having tracked her cell phone signal after the others had filled him in. He opened the door, and as he entered, he bumped into something. Swearing, he opened his phone for light and found that he had bumped into the chair that contained the remains of the only girl he had ever loved. Dropping the phone, he fell to his knees, his jeans, socks, and shoes instantly soaked in blood. "No," he murmured, his eyes widening and shaking. "No, no, no, no, no."

"NO!" he screamed, throwing his hands up into the air before digging his fingers into his face. When he finally came back to reason, he fumbled to find his cellphone, wiping off the blood on his shirt, and dialed Moritani, messing up the number twice before it actually going through.

"What's up?" she asked, breathing heavily as though running. "Did you find her yet?" He didn't respond. "Manabe? Hey? Manabe? Did you find Kotoura?"  
He paused to shine the light of the cell phone at her face, still trying to deny what he saw before him. _It might not be her_ , he thought, but then the light reflected off a small locket at the base of her neck.

He dropped the phone back into the pile of blood.


	4. Chapter 4: Naruto Shippuden

The Special Attack Division had just finished setting up traps outside of their encampment within enemy territory when Zaji sensed something coming towards their group.

"Can you tell who it is?" Kankuro asked urgently.

Zaji responded with a confused face that looked as though he was trying to solve math in his head. "I can't tell...there's something jamming the signal."

Suddenly, Muta stumbled out of the woods near the camp and collapsed on the group.

"It's Muta!" Zaji responded, leaping over a branch and bounding towards him. "I can tell from his chakra energy. I'll go get him."

"Zaji, wait!" Kankuro commanded, but Zaji had already reached Muta. Kankuro paused indecisively, feeling anxious for some reason. "Something is wrong here," he murmured, scanning the perimeter.

As Zaji helped Muta up, Muta muttered something.

"Huh?" Zaji asked, leaning in a little closer and putting an arm around Muta's shoulder to help him up.

"Run away," Muta repeated, his voice coming out weird as he struggled to control himself, but then he suddenly grabbed Zaji, holding him hostage.

As some of the Special Attack Division began to realize that something had changed drastically for the worse in mere moments, Sasori came out of the woods, followed by the rest of the Surprise Attack and Diversion Platoon.

"Ittan, now!" Kankuro shouted, and Ittan nodded.

"Earth Release: Moving Earth Core!"

Immediately, the area that the Special Attack Division had set up sank into the ground as Kankuro used his chakra threads to bring Zaji back down with them. Up above on the normal ground level, the Surprise Attack and Diversion Platoon paused.

"Are they dead?"

"Probably."

"Check, just in case."

He paused, checking for signals of life. "Still there."

Sai, noticing the large explosion, began to head back.

While the Special Attack Division steadied themselves, Kiri tended to Zaji. Nobody had a minute to recover as two bodies came hurtling towards them. Omoi began to engage, but then the group realized who they were fighting.

"Tokuma! Ronka!"

"Damn it," Omoi muttered, struggling to deal with war and all of its newly experienced hardships. "They're using our own friends against us?"

Out of nowhere came another person, only someone intercepted him midway. The two crashed into the ground and one of them jumped out of reach. It was Sai, looking completely serious (as usual), void of emotion (also as usual), and ready to use his tipless tanto or scroll as soon as the moment presented itself.

Deidara also descended to join in the action, probably just because he's evil and was bored.

"Why are you here?" Kankuro asked furiously, his voice unwavering even as the rest of his team (except for Sai) was trying to figure out how to save their possessed comrades. "Our units rarely meet so early in a war."

"Yeah, well, we figured we'd take care of you guys early on and kick start this whole thing," Deidara responded, grinning. "And don't even think of beating us."

"Why not?" Kankuro asked, his voice holding traces of defiance and confidence.

"Because you _can't_ beat us," he said just as a figure rose from the ground.

"Shin?" Sai asked, turning paler than normal. Shin had been something of an older brother to him, back when they were in the Roots...but... "But you're dead."

"Sorry," Shin responded, swaying slightly as he regained his balance, his eyes as black as pitch. "You can't beat me, little brother, so run away."

"Brother," Sai reponded, having regained his calm and instead observing Shin.

 _Brother?_ Omoi thought, more than slightly horrified. _Is this what war does to us? Forces us to fight not just our friends, but our family, too?_ "This is unforgivable," he said, finally feeling utterly compelled to take part. "We will show you no mercy!"

"It's war," Deidara said, laughing. "There's no room for mercy."

All at once, everyone started fighting, with Sasori matched against Kankuro and Sai against Shin. Chakra threads ran through the air, and the clash of tanto against tanto reverberated off of the walls of the pit.

Omoi, fired up, slashed the chakra threads that Sasori had been using to control his comrades, and Kankuro pressed his advantage, forcibly pulling Sasori closer with his very own threads.

Meanwhile, Sai and Shin were fighting, neither one of them ever gaining much of an advantage or losing much of one. They seemed to be perfectly evenly matched, going blow for blow and never letting up.

"You've gotten stronger," Shin commented softly, but Sai had no problem hearing him despite their movements as they jumped and flipped.

"You've been dead," he replied coolly, deflecting an attack and slashing from the side, which was similarly deflected. They had, after all, learned from the same teacher. "Doesn't leave much time for practice."

If one was an outside observer, they couldn't have possibly told whether or not the two of them were sparring for practice or fighting to the death. Any mistake meant the end for either of them, or rather, only for Sai, as Shin was something beyond "alive" right now. Still, neither showed any emotion as they cut through the air, their blades twirling and reaching for the other.

They were perfectly matched...

...until Kankuro gave the signal for Ittan to raise the ground.

Sai had never dealt with much emotion, but Shin had been the closest thing to family he'd had. As much as he could try to deny it, he felt _something_. Maybe that's why he was off just a bit. Bit "just a bit" was all it took. The ground moved suddenly, something neither Sai nor Shin had been expecting, and they were thrown off of sync as the ground rushed up at them.

When the earth was once more level, neither of them moved, for Sai had his tanto staked in the place where Shin's heart was, where it was supposed to be.

However, Shin, kneeling over Sai, had his blade was similarly staked in Sai's heart, which was still beating and still prone to _stop_ bleeding on the occasion that it was pierced as such.

"I told you, little brother," Shin said, "I am indestructible. You cannot defeat me." As Sai's grip on the blade loosened slightly, Shin slid his own blade out of Sai's chest. "I am sorry, little brother."

"Why are you sorry?" Sai asked. He should have been gasping, struggling for what he knew where his last breaths, but sheer willpower prevent him from doing so. Instead of giving in, he pushed Shin with a sudden burst of energy so that he fell back onto the ground, and Sai drove his tanto in deeper, staking Shin to the earth. "Now, at least, you're stuck here until they can destroy you."

Shin moved to removed the blade, but Sai had thrust it at such and angle that he was unable to maximize his strength. "This does nothing to stop me," he said, completely detached of emotion. "I can't be killed."

Sai had accelerated his blood loss by driving Shin into the earth, and it showed as he fell over, landing in a sprawled position next to Shin. "They will find a way. Goodbye, Brother Shin."

Shin watched as Sai's life quickly left him. Even though he was dead, even though Sai's tanto was still lodged in his chest, and even though he'd grown up with Root training, he felt a flicker of emotion. As his emotionless dead eyes traced first Sai's pale face and then the clear sky, he could have sworn that his dead heart beat once in sync with Sai's last heartbeat.

And then Sai joined Shin as one of the dead.


	5. Chapter 5: Ouran High School Host Club

Kyoya, Mori, and Honey had stayed behind to deal with the Otori's private Black Onion force, leaving the twins and Haruhi to chase after Tamaki.  
Hikaru was driving the carriage at breakneck pace.

"Hikaru! Slow down!" Kaoru shouted, grabbing on tight to a handhold as the carriage hit yet another rock and nearly sent him flying.

"I can't!" Hikaru said, clearly distressed as he whipped the reins harder. "Tamaki made the host club for people like us! Can you remember a time when we were ever happy without it? We never had any real friends. We kept ourselves separated from everyone. But that all changed for us because of Tamaki! That's why we need to bring him back!"

Haruhi watched from the back in slightly-awed silence, not wanting to interrupt their moment although she secretly agreed with Hikaru, but just then, the carriage hit an especially large bump and sent Hikaru flying.

Kaoru stopped the carriage and jumped off, running to Hikaru's side. Hikaru cried out in pain as Kaoru gently prodded his leg. Then Hikaru laid his arm over his eyes, biting down to take his mind off of his twisted ankle, which was throbbing more by the second.

"Haruhi!" he yelled. "You need to go and get the boss!"

"Hikaru," Kaoru said, leaning over him. "You know we can't ask her to do that. She doesn't even know how to drive a carriage! She's only a commoner, after all."

But Haruhi wasn't finished just yet. With a new determination in her eyes, she lifted the hem of her dress and leaped into the driver's seat, picking up the reins with her hands, and without casting another look back at the twins, drove on ahead.

As the carriage receded into the distance, Kaoru helped Hikaru to his feet upon Hikaru's command. "C'mon!" he said, ignoring Kaoru's worried glance. "Stop worrying about me! We need to catch up to them!"

Using Kaoru's arm around his shoulders, they began to slowly make their way after Haruhi.

At this point in time, she was blazing down a forest trail adjacent to the road Eclair's car was traveling. In a leap of faith, she made the horses jump onto the road, where she landed with a jolt, finding herself to be only about ten feet behind their car.

"Tamaki!" she yelled, ignoring Eclair altogether and calling out to someone she couldn't bear to say goodbye to. "Tamaki!"

Surprised, he turned, and his eyes widened as he took in the sight of Haruhi in a dress, driving a carriage like a madwoman. "Haruhi! It's dangerous! You need to stop!"

"Only if you stop first!" she yelled back. The distance between them was decreasing with each second. Soon, they were only five feet away. "We need you back, Tamaki! There isn't a host club without you! Kyoya-senpai, Mori-senpai, Honey-sempai, Hikaru, and Kaoru all want you back, too! _I want you to come back, senpai!_ " she yelled, letting everything else fade away but him.

As he opened his mouth for a hesitant reply, the wheel hit a loose cobblestone, and she felt her balance shifting, falling away underneath her. She saw Tamaki's eyes widen as he called out to her, the car stopping, but then she couldn't see anything over the bridge. She was falling, falling...

Tamaki moved to jumped, but Eclair put a hand on his arm. Tears were in her eyes; she knew that she was a terrible person, but she couldn't help but cling to someone like him, because such people were rare. "I...I know where your mother is," she said. "I can take you to see her, if you want."

Tamaki gave her a strained smile, and she accepted that he would never be truly happy. Certainly not with her, and probably not even once he was reunited with his mother, because despite their presence, their was one girl that he would be searching for...

Blinking away her tears, she let go of his arm, he eyes taking him in for what she sensed to be the last time.

"Thanks," he said, giving her a proper host smile before he turned and dove into the river.

Eclair, feeling ashamed and unworthy, couldn't bear to see him with that girl. "I try to be good, and I end up alone," she whispered before wiping away her tears and turning to the driver, her eyes as cold as ever, just a facade to hide her pain and loneliness. "Continue on."

Meanwhile, Haruhi was submerged in the water, frantically trying to make an effort to break surface, but the material of the dress had caught in a rock along the bottom. She pried at it with cold fingers, but she didn't have enough oxygen to make much of an effort. _Tamaki..._ she thought as she closed her eyes, the world fading away around her.

Tamaki dragged Haruhi out of the water, surging frantically towards the shore. "Please, please," he kept whispering as he waded towards solid ground, his feet getting caught in the thick sand. He couldn't finish his request, because he wasn't sure how far his selfishness could go. _Please...what? Please...open your eyes? Please smile? Please call my name? Please...just be alive?_ By this point, he had reached the shore, so he pulled her onto the bank and scanned her face, holding her forearms, which were covered in goosebumps from the frigid water.

"Haruhi," he said, his voice faltering momentarily. Her lips were pale, as though all of the life had flowed out of her. "Haruhi...What do I do?" He hesitated before starting CPR. _It's not a kiss,_ he tried to convince himself. _I'm doing this to save Haruhi's life. It's not a kiss..._ His original embarrassment faded after a few minutes as he realized that Haruhi still wasn't breathing. He started another round of CPR when something struck him in the head.

"Ow, what the heck-" he began, turning and rubbing his head to find Hikaru on Kaoru's back. Hikaru only had one shoe on, because the other had been directed at Tamaki's head.

"What are you doing, you pervert?" Hikaru asked.

"I am _not_ a..." Tamaki began, but he was already blushing, so he turned away from them. "Go away."

"What's with her, by the way?" Hikaru asked as Kaoru helped him down and supported him.

Tamaki remembered why he'd been so scared a moment earlier. "She got thrown off the carriage and into the water. I went after her and managed to get her on land, but..." He looked at Kaoru with worried eyes. "I've tried CPR, but..."

"Move it, pervert," Hikaru said roughly, shoving Tamaki out of the way and hobbling over to kneel beside the even-paler Haruhi.

"Hikaru! Your ankle!"

Hikaru glared over his shoulder at Kaoru. "Forget my ankle! We've gotta save Haruhi!"

Kaoru, about to protest, just shut his mouth, nodded, and went to kneel on the other side of Haruhi.

"Did you check her pulse?" Kaoru asked, looking up at Tamaki, who was caught off guard.

"Huh? Oh, no. I forgot to," he said regretfully.

Kaoru pressed his fingers against Haruhi's neck, and when his lips straightened into a tight line, he bent down to put an ear to Haruhi's chest, trying to find a steady beat, any beat...

"So?" Tamaki asked fretfully after a moment of silence. "Will she be okay?"

Kaoru just looked at Hikaru, who read the look on his face and looked down at Haruhi's face instead.

"Well? What is it?" Tamaki asked, taking a step closer to them, but he stopped once he saw the tears in Hikaru's eyes, and he watched as they fell and landed on Haruhi's white face.

"Hikaru..." Kaoru said, tears falling from his own eyes, and he went to stand behind Hikaru, putting a hand on his shoulder as Hikaru pressed his knuckles in the ground, leaning forwards as more tears spilled out.

Tamaki just remained where he was, his feet frozen into the ground. _It's my fault...she came for_ me _...If I'd just gotten Eclair to stop the car sooner.._  
After a while, Kaoru walked a few feet away and pulled out a cell phone, holding it up to his ear and speaking quietly. "Yeah? Kyoya? You...need to come here. The bridge. You know which one, right? Yeah." He flicked his eyes towards the motionless Tamaki. "He's here. And bring Honey and Mori. Yeah. Bye." Then he hung up, tucking the phone in his pocket and going back to stand beside Kaoru.

Kyoya, Honey, and Mori arrived fifteen minutes later by way of the Otori company car.

"Tama-chan!" Honey yelled, smiling brightly and holding Usa-chan. Mori was following him with a small smile on his face, and Kyoya was hiding a smirk behind his hand as he readjusted his glasses.

Tamaki, startled, looked up at them, but then he looked back at the twins, huddled over Haruhi...

"Tama-chan!" Honey yelled, coming up to him and giving him a hug. "You can't ever leave again, okay?"

"Mitsukuni," Mori said in a low voice, and Honey turned. "Kaoru! Hikaru!"

Kaoru turned, but he couldn't offer Honey a smile. Instead, Honey saw the tears in his eyes.  
"What's wrong, Kaoru?"

But Kaoru couldn't answer, so Honey turned to Hikaru instead. "Hikaru, what's wrong with Kaoru-" he began, but as he drew closer, he soon realized the problem and became silent. Mori stood beside him, having caught on earlier. Kyoya fell in beside them, frowning and opening his mouth, but even he couldn't speak. Finally, he pulled out a cell phone. "Yes? This is he. Put me through to your head of staff. Yes, it's an emergency. Can you get an ambulance to my location? Yes, I'm at..." His voice trailed off as he walked further away.

The ambulance came ten minutes later, but there was no point. Haruhi was proclaimed dead upon arrival.

All of the host club members came to her funeral to pay respects, both to Haruhi and her devastated father, who had been forced to bury his entire family.  
Tamaki, however, didn't show.


	6. Chapter 6: He Dedicated to Roses

"Have fun with her," Shin said, smirking as his boys circled Choi Yodah, who was actually Choi Ida. "And make sure you film it well."

"Stay back!" she yelled, lashing out and managing to kick one of them in the stomach, but after getting back up, he punched her in the stomach. She fell back against the cement floor, struggling to breathe, and desperately terrified for her future.

"Ida!" Shinah yelled, leaning forward, but another one of Shin's underclassmen who had been tasked with watching him kicked him in the stomach. He fell sideways, a foot away from his friend. "Junah, what can we do?"

One of the boys reached out and grabbed Yodah's shirt, ripping it to the laughter of his friends, and Yodah closed her eyes, tilting her head back as a tear fell from each eye and streamed down to her chin. "Naru!"

Just then, a motorcycle came flying through the wooden wall of the old warehouse, with Gang Naru riding on top. Everyone froze as he skidded to a stop, his eyes immediately finding Yodah. He immediately noticed the tears in her eyes and her ripped shirt, the way she was trembling from fear, and he paused, feeling his hands shaking.

"Naru?" she asked, as though she didn't believe that he was really there. "Naru? You're really Naru?"

He opened his mouth, paused, and nodded instead, not trusting himself to say anything just yet.

She gave a little smile, which made him tremble more, because seeing her smile while covered in scrapes and bruises and ripped clothing was just too much. "I'm really sorry. I really didn't mean to lie to you, Naru. I'm sorry, really, I am." She bit her lip. "Please don't hate me, Naru."

"How could I hate you?" he asked, balling his hands into fists. "Choi Ida, Choi Yodah, girl, boy - you're just you, and my feelings won't change," he finally got out, taking a step closer. "And I hate seeing you scared more than anything else in the world." He glared with intense hatred towards Shin Hakyoon. "I'm going to murder you, I swear," he vowed with a vengeance, but Hakyoon just laughed.

"You can try. First, though, you'll have to go through my boys."

"I was planning on killing them all, too," Gang Naru promised, "for what they did to Yodah. Then I'm coming after you."

"I look forward to it."

With that, Gang Naru turned, took two steps, thus closing the distance between him and the nearest underclassman, and lifted him by the collar with one hand while smashing his face in with the other. Then he dropped him onto the ground and waited for someone to come at him.

All of the underclassmen looked slightly terrified.

"Come on already!" Shin Hakyoon yelled, "Or I'll kill you all myself."

Despite witnessing Gang Naru's unprecedented strength, they were more scared of the tangible threat presented in punishment from Shin, so they all ran at Naru at once. He elbowed one in the stomach hard enough to send him reeling into a wall while simultaneously kicking the guy from the left in his face. Then he grabbed the next guy's shoulder, pulled him closer, and punched him in the stomach (twice) before sending him flying with a side kick. He swiped a guy's legs out from under him with a low kick before punching him in the face and easily avoiding a head blow from the guy sneaking up behind him. He dealt with him and looked around to establish that everyone had been taken care of.

This all took roughly twenty-two seconds.

He took a step closer to Shin Hakyoon. "It's your turn now."

One of the guy's he'd KO'd reached out a hand and grabbed his ankle as though to stop him from going after Shin. Without hesitating, Naru turned and stomped on his wrist, ignoring his scream, and started advancing towards Shin Hakyoon, but Yodah stepped in his path.

"Naru," she said, holding her side with one hand where he suspected she'd been kicked. "It's fine. You don't have to do this. I don't want you getting hurt because of me. You've already done enough."  
Naru shook his head, meeting her eyes with shame in his. "I haven't done nearly enough. I didn't trust you, and I ended up hurting you. How can I ever make up for that?"  
"You already have. You came back, didn't you?" she asked. "You came here to save me. So stop doing all of this. I'll come back and beat them up with you some other time, just-" She winced, her legs almost giving out under her, and Naru quickly moved towards her, supporting her by putting an arm around her shoulders and walking her over to where Shinah and Junah were sitting with their hands tied behind their backs.

"You forgot about us tied up over here, didn't you?" Shinah asked, rolling his eyes and glaring at Naru.

He shrugged, setting Yodah carefully. "I didn't even notice you were here."

Junah sighed. "Save it for later. Hurry up and untie us so we can get Yodah to a hospital."

"Leaving so soon?" Shin Hakyoon asked, sounding almost petty as though his playmates were leaving. Of course, his version of "play" consisted of beating, torturing, and killing. No wonder he had no friends.

Gang Naru turned, ready to bash his face in, but Shinah cut it. "What's more important to you, getting revenge or making sure Yodah's all right?"

Everyone ignored her small "I'm fine."

"If you answer this incorrectly, I won't let you have her."

Naru bit down on his teeth. "Sorry, Shin Hakyoon. We'll have to resume this later." He turned back to Shinah, Junah, and Yodah. "I'll untie you, so turn around."

They did as he asked, with Shinah nonchalantly adding, "Of course, while putting her safety first, there should definitely be some revenge. Just save it for later, when she's somewhere safe."

Naru had bent down and was in the middle of untying their hands when Shin pulled out a knife and said, "I'm not letting you leave that easily, Gang Naru."  
He plunged downward with the blade, sinking it into flesh, and then there was blood, coming out from the wound in thick red rivulets and ending up in a small but growing pool of dark red on the cement.

Choi Yodah fell to the ground, the switchblade sticking out of her chest.

She'd been the only one facing forward when Shin had moved, so she'd been the only one to see the knife.

She'd been the only one to move to defend Naru in the only way she could: with her own body.

Naru turned around when he heard the sound of her choking, trying to take in oxygen and not cough up blood. By this point, Shin Hakyoon realized his mistake and took a step back, a smirk still on his face. "Oops," he said. "It looks like I slipped." He bent down and smoothly pulled the blade out of Yodah's chest, his hand slipping slightly on the fresh coating of blood. "It doesn't matter. Maybe now you'll be pushed to utter despair and do us all a favor."

Naru's eyes were stuck on Yodah's now-red body before they slowly traveled to Shin. With a cold glare, he launched himself in a flying kick, nailing Shin in the chest and sending him into a support beam, the knife tumbling from his grasp. Then he punched him in the face a few times until Shin regained himself and started throwing fists back at Naru. The terrifying thing was that Naru didn't even try to dodge or block anything. He just took the hits and kept on the offensive, pulverizing Shin.

Meanwhile, Shinah and Junah were huddled around Yodah. Shinah ripped off his shirt, tearing it into bandages and wrapping it around her chest before calling a number on his cell phone and rattling off the address of the warehouse.

The cops arrived with an ambulance ten minutes later. When they got there, they had to put both Naru and Shin in handcuffs to stop them from trying to kill each other. Then they loaded Yodah into the ambulance, and Shinah pushed his influence as a member of a rich household to get himself, Junah, and the handcuffed Naru in the ambulance.

"She's still got a pulse, but it's going to be close," the attendant said gravely. "So no funny business. Don't do anything that might excite her. If her heartbeat increases, she'll start pumping out more blood, and she doesn't have that much left to give in the first place."

Shinah nodded, and Junah smiled at the female attendant. "What's your name?" he asked, thinking _Just my type._

Shinah smacked him in the head.

Naru stared at her face the entire ride, praying that she'd make it through, regretting all the harsh things he'd said to her and how he'd treated her. He remembered laughing at her once, and he felt awful inside. He'd done all of those terrible things to her, and yet she still cared for him? He didn't deserve her, not by a long shot.

As fate would have it, he _didn't_ deserve her, and he would never have the chance to.

She died in the ambulance.


	7. Chapter 7: Pretear

"Is it leafe you want?" Himeno asked, shining a pure white before transforming into the White Pretear. "Then I'll give you some." With that, she let a gentle wave of leafe drift outward, extinguishing all of the darkness that was forming around her. The leafe reached the core of the Great Tree of Fenrir, and suddenly, the entire tree was surrounded by a soothing white light as the darkness, the loneliness, the solitude, and the despair disappeared and were replaced by the love Himeno was giving out.

Takako, in the form she had taken 16 years ago, was released from the grasp of the evil tree and fell towards the ground, only to be saved by Himeno, who smiled gently at Takako as if to say, _All your sins are forgiven, cleansed away by the leafe that's snowing down upon us all. You are not alone._

And with that, they landed gently on the ground.

After the tree had vanished, all of the knights assembled.

"Yeah! We all made it!" Mannen said, fist-pumping, and Kei half-smiled down at him.

"Yeah!" Shin echoed, smiling cutely. "We have the best Pretear."

Just then, Takako walked up with Sasame trailing behind her.

"Sasame?" Hayate asked, getting off the ground. _Am I dead now? Is that it?_

Sasame nodded and smiled gently, but his eyes were tinged with sadness.

"How are you alive?" Hayate asked, confused but still hoping that he wasn't dead. _I have something to tell Himeno...I can't be dead!_

Sasame avoided eye contact and instead looked at the ground while Takako started crying.

"Takako?" Hayate asked, looking back and forth between them and trying to understand what was happening.

"Himeno," Takako choked out. "She brought him back to life with her leafe."

"Really?" Hayate asked, and Sasame nodded, still not looking up. Hayate gave a rare half-smile. "That's great. Who knew she was so powerful?" But when he looked at Takako, she was still crying, and they didn't appear to be happy tears. "What happened? What's going on?" he asked more urgently, but then he stopped. Neither Sasame nor Takako could look him in the eyes, and suddenly, he just knew. "No...It can't..."

Himeno lay in a small garden of flowers, still in her White Pretear form, her eyes closed and her breathing slowed. On one side of her was her family, with Kaoru, Mawata, Natsue, and Mayune. Natsue was holding Mayune, both of them crying for the daughter and sister that they'd never properly embraced, not once.

Mawata stood slightly behind Kaoru, not understanding how Himeno could face the despair and win.

One the other side were the leafe knights, with Kei, Go, Mannen, Hajime, and Shin and looking down at the ground, the younger ones crying and Mannen trying to hide his tears.

Beside them were Takako and Sasame, their hands loosely intertwined, with Takako still crying and Sasame just looking at Himeno with those sad eyes that had held so much despair and anguish over the last 16 years.

And apart from them all, kneeling next to Himeno's still form, was Hayate. At first, he was frantic. He tried to wake her up, but she wouldn't. When he checked her pulse, he found that it was steady but slow. _But with this rate, she may never die, but she may never wake up, either._

He even tried to give her leafe, but it didn't help. After all, the skies were _full_ of Himeno's leafe, but while it washed away the sins of the others and gave them life, it couldn't help her.

By this point, Natsue and Mayune had turned away, comforting each other and unable to bear the burden of Himeno's state. Both of them felt guilty, but neither one could make any changes, even if they wanted to. Kaoru fell to his knees, whispering, "No, I can't lose my Himeno. Not after her mother...I can't...lose her like this..." He took off his glasses as tears streaked down his face.

Mawata moved forward and kneeled next to Himeno, opposite from Hayate. "You were...always laughing," she said softly, tears falling from her eyes, tears that hadn't even been able to release themselves when she was in pain over the death of her father. "I was jealous of you. You seemed like you were always happy and carefree, and I was angry. I was always alone, without laughter, without love, and I seemed to think that you were somehow the opposite of me. You had all of the warmth in life that I wanted." Mawata looked away. "But I couldn't see your inner pain. You were scared, unsure, and feeling just as lonely as I was, and even as I fell into despair that nobody could see me and _my_ pain, I couldn't even see _your_ pain. So I'm sorry, Himeno...I'm really..." Mawata broke off, brushing away her tears and going to stand by her family.

None of the knights could step forward except Mannen, who went to Himeno and took her slender, gloved hand in his. "Himeno, I was always failing you. I couldn't guard you, I couldn't protect you...I'm really sorry, Himeno!" he said, the tears that he'd been holding back finally spilling. Shin came forward and took his hand, leading him back to the others.

Hayate looked down at her face, tears welling up in his eyes as well. "I couldn't save Takako, and now I couldn't save you," he whispered in anguish, the tears finally falling. He took both of her hands in his. "I...wanted to tell you something, Himeno. I wanted to tell you that I...that I..." His voice grew quieter. "That I love you, Himeno. So please wake up," he said softly as he held her face in his hands before leaning down and kissing her lips. _Please, let this be a fairy tale,_ he thought desperately, _and let her wake up once I kiss her._

But when he pulled back, she didn't open her eyes.

With sudden motion, he grabbed her hand in his, slipping off the glove, and a soft light surrounded them as they preeted.

"What are you doing, Hayate?" Go asked, taking a step forward but holding up a hand to shield the light. When it faded, Hayate was gone, and Himeno was dressed in her Wind Pretear dress. "Hayate! Why are you doing this?"

Hayate's voice spoke from within Himeno. "I couldn't protect her before, but now, I'll protect her forever. I'll be her shield until she either wakes up, or...or until she dies," he said, and the knights all went quiet.

Then Go broke the silence. "Hayate! You can't! We need you to help fight the darkness in the world."

"Isn't that what we told Himeno?" he asked, and Go looked down at the ground, as did the other knights, with guilty eyes. "We told her that we needed her help. And when she gave up everything to join in on a fight she wasn't even a part of, we failed to protect her. _I_ failed to protect her. Go now, and if you need me, you'll know where to find me. As a leafe knight, I cannot forsake my sworn duty to assist in times of need. But until then, I refuse to leave Himeno alone. She was often alone before we met her, and she must have been hurting inside. I...I can't stand by and let her continue to feel pain and loneliness. Nobody should have to be alone."

The other knights nodded quietly amongst themselves and with a final sad look towards Himeno, they disappeared in flashes of light. Takako left with Sasame, both of them feeling guilty for Himeno's fate but unable to do anything.

The family also left, leaving only Kaoru behind.

He looked towards his daughter, who would most likely remain in a comatose state for her entire life. That was her sacrifice to ease the pain of others. When he looked closely at her, he thought he could even seen the faint outline of Hayate's presence holding Himeno in his arms, his face wet with tears and his eyes sad but determined to never let go.

"Thank you, Hayate," Kaoru said, his tears finally stopping. Himeno wasn't dead, and she wasn't alone.

Because of her sacrifice, everyone else had been saved, and it was all thanks to her spirit.

"She's just like her mother," Kaoru said softly as he walked away.

Kaoru and family visited Himeno every week, and Takako and Sasame came every now and then, but the guilt kept them away. The leafe knights also stopped by as often as they could, awaiting any positive changes in her condition, but they were never met with any. And although staying in their preeted form slowly wore away at Hayate's life over time, he refused to leave her side. Eventually, Himeno passed on, and Hayate left Earth with her.

Himeno was buried in that same garden, with the flowers she'd planted with her mother placed beside her grave to watch over her forever.


	8. Chapter 8: Gargantia on the Verdurous

Amy entered the apartment-like space she shared with Bebel and greeted him with a strained smile. "Want some tea?" she asked, trying to hold her voice steady, but Bebel, happy-go-lucky as ever, didn't notice her tension just yet.

"Sure," he said, smiling with his eyes closed.

Amy returned his smile with a weak one of her own and went into the kitchen. _What am I doing?_ she asked herself, gripping her head. _I can't go on moping forever!_ _I've got to have a happy attitude so nobody worries about me. I have to put on a smile, for Bebel, for Melty, for Bellows and everyone..._ She just started to boil water when she felt overwhelmed. "That idiot Ledo," she said, tears already rolling down her face.

"Sis?" Bebel asked from the other room, but it was too late to pretend like nothing was wrong.

"I can't believe that he would just leave Gargantia like that. Here, I thought we were becoming friends...and then he goes and does this...how could he?" she asked, putting a hand over her mouth to stifle her sobs. "Do I really mean that little to him? Maybe it was too much to assume...since he means so much to me..."

"Amy," Bebel said worriedly, and after a pause, he asked, "Ledo...is he really...leaving?"

"Yeah," Amy said, wiping her eyes and giving Bebel a tired smile. "He really is. That idiot. I really thought..." She turned back to the tea, planning to try to put on a smile and go with it, but Bebel was already getting up and heading for the door. "Bebel? Bebel! Where are you going? You shouldn't be out of bed! You could hurt yourself!" she called, turning the stove off and running off after him, but he had a head start and she didn't know where he was going.

Bebel, however, knew exactly who he was going to see. "Ledo!" he said, standing just before Ledo and Chamber. "Is it true? You're really going to leave?"

Ledo looked up from the flute he was carving. He looked at Bebel, knowing that he couldn't lie (especially because he'd probably be awful at it). "Yeah, Bebel. I'm going with Pinion to kill the Hideaze. That's the mission I was given. It's the only way I'll be able to protect all of you."

Bebel looked down at the ground. "Yeah, I understand, but..." He looked up at Ledo, his face surprisingly angry. "But that's no reason to make Amy cry!"  
Ledo looked somewhat shocked. "Amy was...crying?"

Bebel nodded. "And you have to take responsibility."

"Take...responsibility?"

Bebel nodded again, looking stern. "Why do you have to kill the whale squid? Don't you know that war only hurts people? Why can't you stay here with us? You're not in space anymore, Ledo. Nobody's trying to kill us here. We can be at peace. So why? Why do you have to leave and break everything? Amy...Amy cares about you a lot, Ledo."

Ledo processed everything that Bebel had said, using Chamber to interpret a few things, and as he was about to reply, Amy came rushing up.

"Bebel! I found you! Thank goodness you're all right!" she cried out, hugging Bebel. When she pulled back, she noticed Ledo and looked away before looking back towards him and putting on a fake smile. "Good luck, Ledo. Do your best!"

"Amy-"

"Ledo has to stay," Bebel insisted, walking across the narrow metal bar that Chamber was on the end of. "I'm not leaving until you promise to stay," he said, tears sliding down his cheeks.

"Bebel!" Amy shouted, taking a step towards him, but he shook his head.

"Don't come any closer, Amy," Bebel said, looking at Ledo and crossing his arms. "Ledo, please stay. For Amy."

"Bebel! You can't ask that of Ledo! It's too much," Amy said in a worried tone, still inching closer to Bebel while his back was turned. By this point, she was only three feet away.

"I...I..." Ledo stuttered. "I was born to kill Hideaze. It's why I exist. I can't...abandon that mission...it would be treason...I would be useless...My existence would be pointless."

"That's not true," Amy said, looking away from Bebel for one moment to glare at Ledo, but then the ship hit a rough wave. Bebel stumbled with a look of surprise on his face, leaning too far to one side to be able to balance.

"Bebel!" Ledo yelled, but it all happened too fast. Amy leaped towards Bebel, giving him just enough of a push to regain his balance, but in the process, she tumbled off of the metalwork and fell just as Ledo dropped his flute. He stared after it for half a second, remembering what must have been his brother as he was killed for being weak. However, that half second was too long.

"Ledo! Save Amy!" Bebel yelled, snapping Ledo back.

"Right!" Ledo said, turning to Chamber. "Chamber!" He hopped in the cockpit and soared down towards the water, trying to find where Amy had landed, but he couldn't find her. "Chamber, can you search the water for heat signatures?"

"Cannot determine any heat signatures. Data not conclusive, but I have formed a hypothesis. Hypothesis: the recent group of Hideaze and the electronano particles that make up their shells have temporarily disturbed the charge of the water ions. No heat signatures located."

Ledo tightened his fists. "Then we will have to search the entire proximity manually," he said, holding himself back from the pent-up frustration that he felt inside as he searched the ocean. _I was only leaving to protect Amy...and yet, somehow, she's in danger because of this...So it's all my fault...If Amy..._ _  
_ _Don't think like that. We will find her._ But Ledo wasn't convinced. The ocean slowed their search, and its vastness was disconcerting.  
 _I have to find Amy._

In the end, her body was never found. The entire fleet showed up for her funeral, filling a boat with sand and sending it into the ocean, hoping that it would find her one day.

Ledo didn't attend the funeral and wasn't heard from ever again. On Gargantia, rumor had it that he was still searching the entire ocean for her body, stricken with guilt and grief. Just one foreign human and foreign Yunboro searching the world for one girl. Ledo was driven with emotions that he didn't truly understand, emotions that Amy would have explained to him...if he had found her in time.


End file.
